IOE calls for early intervention in illiteracy issues

Research conducted at the Institute of Education (IOE) has suggested primary school teachers can prevent long-term problems through tackling illiteracy issues.

According to the IOE, there is a link between illiteracy and negative outcomes such as bad behaviour, teenage pregnancy and incarceration in later life.

It argues successful literacy interventions at an early age are therefore crucial to children's futures and, for every £1 spent, they can also deliver between £11 and £17 of public savings in other areas.

The IOE is also launching a new book on this topic, entitled 'Reading Recovery and Every Child a Reader: History, Policy and Practice'.

Reading recovery is a programme in which the lowest achieving children aged between five and six receive daily one-to-one tuition, enabling them to reach age-expected levels within an estimated 20-week period.

Every Child a Reader is a whole-school strategy based around reading recovery, designed to ensure all children in need of additional support with reading and writing receive the required intervention.

The IOE's new publication is designed to provide a practical guide of how to implement these initiatives, as well as offering a professional development model for schools and policymakers.

The book's co-editors, Sue Burroughs-Lange and Amanda Ince, commented: "Here's the evidence on how to ensure that no child in our schools need ever suffer from being unable to read or write.

"It's vital that adequate tools are in place when they start school in order to tackle these issues so that all children have the best opportunity to lead a successful and fulfilling life."

According to official figures, 17 per cent of seven-year-olds were below the expected level for writing in 2012, rising to 23 per cent of all 11-year-olds.

The long term ramifications of this were highlighted in the Confederation of British Industry's 2011 skills survey, which found that over 40 per cent of employers were dissatisfied with the basic literacy of school and college leavers.